


A Thousand I Love Yous

by Angel_Negra



Category: Power Rangers Time Force
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-16
Updated: 2010-05-16
Packaged: 2017-10-09 11:59:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/87082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angel_Negra/pseuds/Angel_Negra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Trip wants to give Katie a present.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Thousand I Love Yous

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dorkishavenger](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorkishavenger/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Between the Lines](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/772) by Dorkishavenger. 



It was just an ordinary day. That's what Trip remembers the most. He'd been woken up by Lucas rolling Wes onto him - which is the only way to both get Wes up and keep him from rolling off the edge of the loft again. Jen was tapping at the computer's keyboard, pouting a bit because Lucas had, as always, gotten downstairs first and wouldn't let Jen into the kitchen area.

And Katie. She wasn't doing anything special, just pouring orange juice sleepily. She'd looked up as Trip made his way down and she'd smiled at him. The sun backlit her gently, giving her a soft glow. She looked beautiful, almost unreal, and Trip was momentarily breathless with his love for her.

That's the day Trip decided to give Katie something that would show just how much he loved her.

*

He considers copying what Lucas would do for a girl. Trip even spends a whole day following him, from a distance this time, but nothing feels like a fit for Katie. Lucas loves women, and means everything he says to them. But it's a different love than what Trip feels for Katie.

He thinks of Jen and Alex next. He doesn't want to ask Jen directly. She still gets sad when Alex comes up; and that makes Wes and Katie jittery because they both notice, but there's really nothing either of them can do to fix it. Trip does spend a lot of time staring into jewellery stores that week, which is how Wes finds him.

"None of these fit Katie," says Trip when he picks up the buzz of Wes' curiosity.

Wes rests an arm on Trip's shoulder and leans closer to the ring display, eyeing the selection. "You could just make her something," he says. "I had a... friend who did that for me once. It's always been my favourite present."

Trip gets an image of some guy pushing something at Wes. Trip recognizes it as the weird lumpy vase that Lucas kept trying to keep his combs in until Wes threatened to rinse the combs in the toilet. Jen still giggles when Katie sneaks up behind Lucas and makes flushing noises to freak him out. "Are you ever going to tell us what it's supposed to be?"

Wes laughs. "If I ever figure it out."

Trip's gaze drifts back to the store's display. Wes nudges him and nods over to where two small kids are making faces in the window's reflection. And it hits him. "I should give her a picture!"

"A picture of what?" says Wes curiously.

"Um." She'd notice if Trip took group pictures. "I don't know. She loves us and her family... a-and musicals, but..." He chews on his lip.

"Could you fix her family picture?" asks Wes as he leans back against the store window. "It's looking kind of ragged."

"Not without the negative," he says slowly. Then he remembers Wes' weird vase. "But I could make her a drawing of it!"

*

Trip decides to practice first. He settles down by Lucas' main mirror with some paper and a pencil. Once Lucas wanders over for his usual afternoon touch up, Trip starts sketching. After about ten minutes, a shadow falls over the page and Katie snickers over Trip's shoulder. She gives him an apologetic look when he glances up.

"Sorry, Trip," she says. "It looks okay, and that," she points to the drawing, "has gotta be the first time Lucas' head is big enough to fit his ego."

"I-it's just practice," he says, squirming a bit.

Katie tilts her head curiously. "Practice for what?"

"Um-"

"Is that a bald spot?" asks Jen.

"What?" yelps Lucas, clutching at his head and whirling to stare at Jen in horror. He spins back to the mirror, whipping his emergency mirror out of his back pocket. Jen starts giggling. "That's not funny!"

Katie wanders over with a giant grin on her face. "Oh, I think I see it too, Jen." she says slowly. Lucas makes an indignant sound and backs away from the girls, glaring.

Wes crouches down beside Trip, chuckling. Trip holds out his sketch and says, "Maybe I should have started with something easier? Like Circuit?"

Wes stares at the paper for a minute, then claps Trip on the shoulder. "Come on. We're going to the library."

*

Trip's practising his shading when a thin box suddenly drops onto his paper. Trip jumps and looks up to see Lucas smirking triumphantly. "I got you colouring pencils," he says as Trip picks up the box to inspect it.

"Thanks Lucas!" Trip opens up the box and starts examining the colours. Wes sits down across from him and holds out the pencil sharpener. "Hey, Wes?"

"Yeah?"

"Why's this one called 'Flesh'?"

Wes shrugs. "I haven't had pencil crayons in years," he says.

"Why not?" asks Jen, sitting down beside Trip and glancing at his picture. "Oh, I like that," she says to Trip softly.

"Dad gave me some when I was four, and I just used them to load my dart gun," says Wes, smiling. "I broke three windows before Philips hid them on me and told me that someone broke in and stole them."

Katie giggles as she sits down beside Wes. "And your dad went along with that."

Wes nods. "He kept hiding his face in grief, because we'd had those pencil crayons in the family for generations," Wes chuckles, "and then he told me that it upset him so much that he didn't think he could bear to have another set in the mansion after that."

"And that was the end of your art career," finishes Trip with a grin.

Wes laughs. "Hey, I wanted to be a cowboy growing up."

"I wanted to be a Warrior Against Venjix," says Lucas, finally sitting down.

Katie and Jen bust out laughing. "Wait, a what?" asks Wes.

"It's from the twenty-second century," says Trip. "A lot of historians think the Warriors were Rangers who fought and defeated the Venjix virus."

"It's a virus that wiped out and took over computers," says Katie. "There's a lot we don't know about that century. No one wants to risk their computers getting infected and bringing the virus to the future."

Jen nods. "And the people of that time were pretty careful about recording data for a while. Most of the stories from that time survived mainly as oral stories. Like the Warriors Against Venjix."

"The green one was the best," says Katie, giving Trip a warm smile. "He was a dashing ladies man and the bravest fighter on the team."

Lucas snorts and picks up the blue pencil crayon to point it at Katie. "Blue was still cooler."

"You just like Blue because he drove that killer bus with all the spikes to impale Venjix minions on," says Jen, rolling her eyes.

"See? Cool."

*

Trip goes through three pencil versions of Katie's family. He decides that the third one is as good as he's going to get and sets in with the pencil crayons. He's still fussing with the shading when Jen sits down beside him and hands him a piece of cardboard that's been painted yellow.

"Thanks, Jen. I-I'm almost done, I-"

"It looks fine, Trip." Jen bumps her shoulder against his. "She's going to love it." She holds out a glue stick. "She's on the couch, watching 'Oklahoma!' again."

Trip takes a deep breath, and then he takes the glue stick. "Okay. Thanks."

End.


End file.
